


Before the Storm

by SonictheHedgehog



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Bullying, Electrocution, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Optional shipping, POV Second Person, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Therapy, suffocation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonictheHedgehog/pseuds/SonictheHedgehog
Summary: Every superhero has to have a backstory. Revenge always has a starting point — it never just appears.This is the origin story behind Playmaker. A character study on Yusaku Fujiki.





	1. 0.0.28

— 0.0.28 — 

You love how the breeze feels in your hair; against your face. 

The only thing surrounding you is the sound of grass and trees rustling against the breeze, your hair moving so gently against your forehead as it went passed — as gentle as her hands as they ran through your hand on their own time, your head in her lap. 

The warmth in your heart encapsulates your whole. The smile on your face is as relaxed as your body, as the back of your head was comfortable against her legs and the fabric of her dress. 

If you could stay here forever… you would. You are able to stay there and just breathe — not worry about anything in the field of flowers. Just you, and her… as she doesn’t break the atmosphere, but add to it, as she releases a giggle that makes you open your eyes — to stare in eyes just a tiny few shades brighter than your own. 

She smiles as her hair bobs as she giggles further at you. Her hand runs across your cheek, gently and warm, as the warmth in your heart turns to ice. … Something… 

… Something’s telling you that it’s getting closer to that time. That time that you already have memorized. 

You hum a tiny question, tilting your head further up at your pink-haired loved one, a tear sliding down your cheek as fear replaces your relaxation. You’re beginning to fall apart. 

.. You don’t want to go… 

“I love you,” her voice says, a mere memory in your mind as she smiles at you, “Yusaku.” 

You can still remember her voice, as if you heard it only yesterday… but how long will your memory hold? 

“I—… I love you, too, m—.. mama…” You are able to choke out, as more tears fall, and you know — this is ending soon. It’s real, and it’s ending soon. 

Please no. 

She giggles. Again. Smiling softly, but brightly, as the warm fabricated light shines behind her… and it’s the last thing to see, wanting to stare at it, before—

— and she’s gone. Your mother is gone with a loud, sinister click, bouncing off of four walls as white blinds your eyes, and you jerk — burying yourself further into your sheets from the sudden light that so rudely woke you up. As it had been for the last while. 

It had nearly been a month; if you haven’t lost count by now. 

Light whirring is the sign that you don’t have a choice anymore, as arms descend from the ceiling and with metallic grips, take your brown blanket away — lifting it off your body as your tiny hands cling to it. No, don’t take it — not yet. You want to stay comfortable some more — stay warm some more. But your hands aren’t enough, and the blanket is lifted back into the ceiling — where it always goes, when it was time to get up. 

You look at the floor, whimpering and sniffling as the tears you had shed as you slept still blurred your vision and threatened to bubble over and cause you to fall apart.. but you wipe your eyes. You wipe your eyes and you sniffle again as you stand up, putting your boots back on and accomplishing the only other task you have to do in this white room of nothing. 

With that done, you look at the gray headset that had been your best friend ever since that day where everything was gone before you knew what was happening. 

Your stomach growls, and a pain shoots through you; a reminder of your horrible, horrible failures yesterday. 

With her gone, with your blanket gone, and with your boots on… the only thing you have left… is to duel.


	2. 0.1.20 - 0.1.21

— 0.1.20 — 

Once again, you’re woken up by that same click, and that same, cold, white light. You still flinch from it, tired as you sit up; rubbing your eyes as the arms made of retractable cables fall down and take the blanket all over again, folding it and storing it in the ceiling tiles above. 

You once humored if you could ride the arms all the way up and out, but you know that would be impossible. 

Heavy hearted, you put on your boots yet again, like you had every “morning,” (who’s to say it was actually morning?) and you count your blessings that yesterday a well-placed trap netted you some dinner, because instead of the pain, sharp in your stomach, you’re left to ease yourself into getting up, and starting the simple, tiring routine you know so well by now. It never changed, so you were rather certain that it never would. 

You move your gaze upward, staring up and straight into the cold, white light coming out of a slanted segment between the ceiling and the wall in front of you. It was enough to brighten up the entire shotgun room of no windows, and no doors, just bright white. All around. In the corner of your eye, and even behind you. All you’ve known for the last two months was white, and the black of the number on the wall that continued to go down with every time you were put to the test. Or… at least… that’s what you thought it did… You hadn’t ever seen it go down with your own eyes, but… you could have sworn it was a higher number a couple of sleeps ago. 

All you can do in this room, at this moment, was sit and stare at your surroundings. With the blanket gone, and your boots on, there was nothing else left beyond that. That, and… 

You turn around to see the VR headset sitting on the floor, in it’s gray and blue glory, with the purple padding that at least made it comfortable to wear. It was your only source of entertainment… and that word was meant to be used loosely. Even just looking at the thing made you shake slightly, swallowing before you turn your eyes to the white floor… and then the white wall with black numbers. 

You trace over every single number with your mind. In your head, you read out “77443329” slowly over the course of a few moments, memorizing how the style of the numbers was rather… interesting. What with dots in the circles, and squares making the tops of the sevens. 

This was really all you could do. Stare into the abyss of the room you were trapped in where there is only a wall with numbers that only shift when you’re not looking, and a light beaming down from a slanted entrance. The walls had no stains, and you could swear that the arms in the ceilings came down and cleaned your crumbs from when you were done eating when you were sleeping, because there were no morsels you could try to get off of the floor when you were starving, and no crumbs you could play with when you had nothing left to do. 

You could look at your Duel Monsters deck, the only possession you have as your arm is heavy by your side with your tiny metallic device — white as the room, with a bulging red protective frame around the circular screen upon it — but you had already looked at it several times by now, you didn’t see the point at looking at cards that were just going to be shuffled, shuffled again, and shuffled some more. 

It wouldn’t give you an edge, even as much as you feel like they’re you’re only friends here; and how you feel like there’s a heartbeat within your cards. 

It was probably meant to be this way, you wonder. They want you to use that headset, and put their programming to the test. There was no way you could force that with other things to entertain a kid like you in the room. There was no way you could guarantee that without taking the blanket that wasn’t all that comfortable, but it was all you had, to avoid you curling up in it and sleeping all the time. 

With nothing but the VR headset, it really was just a waiting game. A waiting game until you had no choice. No choice but to put it on because—

— Your stomach growls. You place your tiny hand over it as you look down at it and sigh. You don’t feel all that hungry, but you’ve got nothing left but to assume you are. With your stomach encouraging you to get up and do what you’ve been putting off for the past while, you huff and finally turn around to take that headset in your hands. You look at the inside of it — reluctant, and not at all ready to do what you’ve done over and over again… but. Like you’ve realized… the ones keeping you here haven’t given you a choice. 

So you put it over your eyes and ears, the device starting all on it’s own. You hear the circular disk on your arm boot up, as the world within the headset clicks to life. In the purple, digital landscape that formed, white lines create the same arena you’ve seen more than a dozen times by now. You stand — feet on the floor of the white room, and the starry landscape you had just entered. A silhouette flickers into existence in front of you; your opponent has arrived. 

“DUEL START!” the device shouts directly into your ears, text appearing before your eyes in the fake reality, your deck being shuffled without your assistance. “You will go first,” your opponent speaks, a voice you’ve memorized — robotic, pre-programmed. Unfeeling. Not real. 

You place your hand over your deck. 

“My turn… I… draw!” You say, before pulling out a card with all of your tiny confidence, your heart wavering. 

. . . 

“Linkslayer! Attack! Wipe out the opponent’s Life Points and their last monster!” You shout, voice tiny even though you’re so close to winning. You still participate in this ritual that was now your daily routine, but you know how it ends. You’ve known for the last two months. 

So, naturally, when the opponent’s face up card flips up — all the power you held in your tiny heart leaves in an instant. 

“I activate the trap Miracle’s Wake!” — Of course. — “I target my Super Conductor Tyranno in the Graveyard and special summon it back onto the field!” 

As the gigantic green t-rex came back onto the field with a light climbing down the space it began to take up on the field, making it materialize, you’re left gasping as after you worked so hard to get it to go into defense mode and then knock it out with your other monsters. They had already used their attacks, you had no cards on the field or in your hand… and the attack had no choice but to change targets and continue. 

With a massive ATK of 3300, against Linkslayer’s 2000… you had no chance. And you knew it. As your friend wearing the head of a canine on his own head charged into the dinosaur, only to have the beast he faced roar and turn around to smack him into shattered glass shards — you knew far too well by now what was coming next. And your blood ran cold as your eyes widened behind the headset. 

The arena faded away in a glitch, only to be replaced with the 3D circular display of words, that caused your heart to fall into your chest — and fear to coat your being. 

“YOU LOSE!!!” 

You had only just finished reading the same old description of “Your Life Points reached 0.” at the bottom, when even the text vanished and everything in your vision went black — before pain struck your being as blue and white entered your vision. 

You feel your body shake as the burning, jolting feeling of a literal shock to your system causes you to scream out in pain — loud, the only noise in the room that you find yourself, yet again, thrown against. You tumble against the floor, rolling onto your side as you curl up as your body continues to shake. You can’t even groan out in pain as your eyes are half-way open, and you’re not entirely sure you’re still breathing — but you’re soon able to hear your small, frequent, and not at all satisfactory breaths that left more to be desired, as your body demanded it from you. At this point, after that duel, you were hungry — and a tiny whirring noise filled you with hope that you had been successful in proving yourself.. at least, just a little. 

But you stay there; curled up in your tiny, shaking ball as your heart continues to pound as you’re paralyzed until your body finally calms down after being shocked. Eventually, you can whine against the remaining shocks that still coursed through your body — faint, but there. The growing emptiness in your stomach coaxes you into finally standing, as it takes you a fair bit to get up on your feet; sliding onto one knee, kneeling, and then finally standing.

You walk to the drone that came down once your duel had ended, satisfied and happy to see a tray upon it with a juice box you had become rather acquainted with. Thankfully, that juice box had friends last night as well, so you felt as if you could take your time with your breakfast. You help yourself to the warmth of the stew, to the deliciousness of the main course of the meal. So good, it nearly made you tear up when eating it. 

The food was good, but you wouldn’t consider it worth the shocks. Not at all. 

You miss your mother’s cooking. Her warm mashed potatoes and her chili dogs and her cookies… 

A warmth and a truly rewarding and enjoyable taste that you had no idea when you’d taste it again. 

Had it really been two months? 

— 0.1.21 — 

You dream of the warm light again. Of smiling faces, as the field was more crowded, and you’re made to run after another girl with longer hair than yours as she giggles and runs ahead of you. Her face is blurry, but her eyes are like yours. A growl is heard behind you, and a man that you find yourself comfortable with gathers you, and her up with a grunt, and you both laugh as the loving and warm light of what you remember of the sun causes everything to blur together in shades of blue that matches your hair, your laughter and her laughter and his laughter making up the entire field. Eventually, it’s a mess of embraced arms as your mother with her short, pink hair joins in as well. 

You’re addicted to how happy, and safe, and absolutely loved you feel. You never want it to end…

.. But with a loud click that never fails to rouse you from your sleep, thanks to the bright, cold, white light that’s even brighter than the sun in your dreams, causing you to jolt awake and curl up in the blankets further as a result, it always does. 

You wonder, as a void fills in your heart as the love you once felt fades — would you ever feel that warmth and love again?


	3. 0.2.16 - 0.3.31

— 0.2.16 —

Another scream leaves you as you’re left rolling until you finally smack the back of your shoulders against a wall of vivid white, and once again you’re stuck being unable to breathe. This… this was cruelty. Cruelty at it’s finest as with every loss you took over your time spent here, static danced in your veins and under your skin in ways that made your entire body feel like it was constantly boiling and shaking, convulsing against the intruding jolts. The only thing that somewhat brings you some relief against the pain that caused you to quiver day in, and day out, was the whirring sounds of the tiny propulsion devices as your room service drifted down from the ceiling. The tiny clack that had a habit of echoing when your breaths were still and barely audible to even yourself from the worst of the blasts you dealt with on a daily basis now was the signal that something was waiting for you as a result of your efforts. As per usual, it took you some time to stand up again, some time to let the residual pain fade and to let what was done to you leave your system. Once you get up, you’re yet again thankful that you somehow managed to earn a tray of food, as this time, thanks to feeling a pit of emptiness in your stomach, you don’t take it slow. 

You clear everything off of your plate, even the medicine they’ve placed on there — at least, you _think_ it’s medicine — in a matter of minutes. How many, you’re not sure, but once you take the last spoonful of the gelatin they gave you as some sort of desert, you’re left feeling empty even still that it was… all you managed to get. Even your juice box is empty, and you stare at the empty tray in sadness before the drone gets it’s signal that it had delivered what it needed to, and floats back up into the ceiling above. 

You watch it as it flies farther, and farther away from you. You’re not at all satisfied by what you were just given. You’re not full, and your body is telling you that. Your… supposed victory? You lost. Still. It brought what your decisions in the duel guaranteed by default, but it wasn’t enough. Another cruel reality of what was now your life. Apparently. For the last two months. 

All you can do is hold out… but how long could you last on what little rations you get depending on how well you perform, with hardly any feedback on the matter? You’ve always lost, and yet… This time, all you can hope for is that you did something right with your use of Special Summons. It… was the only thing that made sense, but no one here was going to tell you what you did right. No one did. It was either a tray or a juice box alone, and no one was going to tell you what lead to the full course meal. 

What was the _point_ in all this…? When were they going to let you go home…? When will someone find you…? 

As the room still smells of mashed potatoes with a hint of the fruity, somewhat plastic smell of the jello you ate as well, you desire for something more than just that tray. You look down at the headset you left at your side as you ate. 

There was only one way to get more… and for now, you weren’t desperate enough to try it again, as you feel phantom shocks in your arms and back as fear makes you freeze. 

This time, you stare at the walls for hours out of that fear alone. 

— 0.2.21 — 

Desperation. Learning what desperation felt like when you were six years old was no way to live your life. And yet… here you were; moments away from what you were sure was the scheduled bed time for yourself in the white room, calling forth Link Spider from your extra deck in the dueling grid in order to gain the upper hand. You still lose, all the same, but it’s enough to earn you a tray before the lights switch off; and after a day of barely anything, you take it. You take it, and you’re ready to get up and walk to the tray, but. A shift of your arm causes you to flinch as the jacket your mom bought for you with the purpose of growing into feels like a hot pain against your skin. 

You yelp, and end up falling to the floor in the surprise from such a sensation. That… was new. Sure, when it came to the shocks, sometimes your clothes felt warm, but they never really caught on fire or burned… You sat upright, pulling your jacket off as fast as possible… to have a gasp leave you at what you had found. 

On left arm, there were bright, pink and red marks near the end of your shoulder, and on the side of your arm. This… this was new. You never had those before this place… was this what the shocks were doing to you? 

You touch it, and the skin is sensitive and hot — almost raw. You wince away from the wound slightly, knowing better not to touch it and try your luck. Now that you were fully aware, focusing on it as your eyes stayed trained on it, all you feel is heat, heat, heat from the new mark on your skin. 

You want to whine, but you keep your mouth shut, keeping your lips together as you once again, decide that’s enough for now. 

The lights turn off with the same click as before, but not as loud. Not as cold. Your eyes adjust to the dark around you — you decide to leave your jacket off for now, and you’re pretty sure that the blanket against your skin would only feel just as bad as your jacket did. 

When you should be sleeping, as droopy as your eyes feel, you instead turn your gaze to the wall in front of you — the black numbers the only pitch black thing in the room and the only thing you can stare at against a rectangle sea of grey. 

You study the new number — possibly out of date. As you stare at it as you wait for your pain to subside, the numbers don’t move. 

You tuck away the number “77330225” for a rainy day of some kind. What day that you’ll need that number for, you never know. 

— 0.2.26 — 

This time, when the light clicks on, you don’t jolt. All you do is open your eyes as your lips are pursed together, and you feel a wetness on your face. Looks like you were were crying in your sleep, from how you had tears in your eyes when you woke up. 

You dreamed of your family again. After another dream of being in your father and mother’s embrace alongside your sister, you were left with silent tears in your eyes. 

Your heart ached as you sat up, and you didn’t bother wiping your tears away anymore. You just let them fall. 

Behind how empty your stomach felt, and how empty your heart felt, you were losing. 

All you could do to deal with the physical pain stabbing you from the inside out, and your heart being practically the only thing in your stomach after your recent losses, was suffer in silence as you just let your tears slide down your cheeks with no amount of fighting back. 

Your fighting back was reserved to duels. Not anything else. 

Absolutely nothing else. 

… 

— 0.3.13 — 

You were furious. Absolutely furious. 

You were furious at the people behind this scheme of absolute evil to force a six-year-old to play a card game for the sake of torture day in and day out, you were furious at yourself for the sake of not being able to use Bitron properly, it seemed, as you stare down a single juice box, when you haven’t had a proper meal in six sleeps. You weren’t sure if it was days anymore — without windows and doors, there was nothing to the outside. The last time you tried counting, you were sure it was two months… Had it just become three months? You were losing count — and losing count made you just give up in general. Six sleeps. Six sleeps without a single meal for those “days”. 

You were _starving._ And you were so furious, you were on the verge of tears. 

For the last six cycles of your routine, you eventually just drank the juice and did what you could. Grinned and bore it in comparison — at least you didn’t get nothing. 

… But you felt like your stomach was eating itself now. You knew that whatever tray you got wouldn’t be enough at this point, but it would ease the pain you’ve lived with for the last cycle and a half. Day and a half? Who the hell cared anymore? You sure didn’t. All you cared about right now was the fact that you _still_ got barely anything. Just what were you doing wrong? 

Where you usually hesitated, not wanting to enter the VR duel arena again anytime soon after the last time, you bared your teeth. You gripped your headset tight on your hand, and went ahead and put it back on. 

The headset clicked back on immediately, and you can only just barely hear the drone rising back into the ceiling above the sound effects forced into your ears — getting the message that you weren’t satisfied. The blue background full of flying stars and a white grid formed before you, and your opponent didn’t at all take their sweet time appearing. 

“DUEL!” 

… 

Finally. It took some doing, and some monster ability work, you were sure, but finally despite the electric shocks and the “YOU LOSE!!” you always dreaded as a signal of what was yet to come, you do your best to stand on shaky feet as your legs burned with new scars — as you found out with what happened to the marks on your arm — walking to where the drone had returned, and you were finally successful. 

A tray; with a main course covered in green plastic, gelatin of a brown tint, and medication of whatever kind, just waiting to be devoured. 

And it was all yours. 

The pain in your stomach increases as the scent of whatever-they-gave-you-this-time’s scent reached your nose. It was sharp — like a blade being stabbed straight into you, as it makes you not at all hesitate, or savor what you’ve been given. 

You leave the spoon untouched, as you’re so famished you eat it with your bare hands. You don’t care about the disgusting noises you make, or the mess left on your face. You don't even care about the green covering, as you end up devouring that, too, as a result of you diving in as fast as you possibly could. When you realized -- or, _if_ you realized -- would you even care that you ate it? When you feel scraps of food on your face, you lick it off before giving yourself the next big bite you held in your small hands. Eventually, you get the spoon, but more than half of it had been finished by then, and the next thing on your list was to down the pills you were given. 

You swallow it with the juice box that you’ve been given also, many, many times before — too willing to take whatever they give you, that you don’t even have any complaints about being given the same thing so many times. 

Would you drink it again if you got out? 

… 

Who says you’d ever get out? 

— 0.3.31 — 

Another loss. Was it any surprise? Ever since coming here it had been nothing but losses. Losses that were hardly fair, and were mostly some a spell or trap card that was set that meant that the AI had a crap ton of foresight. You haven’t looked, because who knows who’s watching — you got as far as your jacket being taken off and were about to take off your shirt when you realized you might be monitored by someone. You blushed and put it back on after — but you assume that by now, your body is probably covered in those slightly raised, blotchy scars that burned when earned. After your second duel today, your breathing may have evened out, but you still stayed on the floor. Staring into nothing as you were trapped in your own thoughts — your heart heavy and shoulders slumped as you haven’t moved an inch from where the shocks sent you this time. 

You had no idea how long you had been here. All you’ve known for the last while was a life of duel, eat, sleep. Duel, eat, sleep. A more accurate and frequent version currently was Duel, drink, sleep, duel, drink, sleep, since and repeat. It kept you from missing his mother’s chili dogs, what with it being the only thing you had to eat. 

Speaking of, the drone waited a little ways ahead in the shotgun room. If there was a tray there, it was bound to be getting cold by now. But you still didn’t budge. And honestly, you weren’t hungry, as much as your stomach felt empty. 

You lost. You always lost. Your motivation to continue was wearing thin. You couldn’t find real reason to stay alive right now; only out of necessity, really, of getting the pain in your stomach to stop. For now, it was only emptiness. So, on the floor, you lay. 

You continue to stare at nothing but white — blurred vision as not even that had your attention. 

You’ve been dreaming and yearning for a way out — be it that somebody finds you, or your family does, or you actually manage to win this godforsaken game of whatever this actually is — but who’s to say you’re getting one? 

Who’s to say even your family is looking for you at all? 

The thought finally got a rise out of you — as tears formed in your eyes, causing you to sniffle before breaking out into tiny sobs you were sure no one would hear. Or, at the very least, not care about. 

You were alone, no matter who was out there. It was time you accepted it. 

And as you sobbed alone once more, yet again with no arms, be it gentle or a strong sort of soothing and secure, or a hug that was just a little too tight all to make you feel better, you finally did. 

No one was coming for you.


	4. 0.4.02 - 0.4.06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like an episode about the Lost Incident to make you update your painful as hell fic, right? lol Catch me next week where I do it all over again and maybe end up slapping an "AU" tag on this because VRAINS shot my headcanons down.

— 0.4.02 —

Even the trays weren’t enough anymore, as you had just had one yesterday, and yet, your stomach felt like a hollowed-out hole, empty and void as it ached beneath your skin. Things were starting to seem beyond hopeless, as no matter what you did, not even a full course meal would make you feel any better. Maybe you were better off trying to aim for three meals a day? 

It was a lost cause, though. You already knew that. Without any hints on what you were doing wrong with your dueling, and what exactly was giving you trays despite your losses, how in the world were you going to aim to try and get three trays a day? All it would do to you is cause you to be shocked, and thrown, and hurt, and be breathless and weak on the floor, and the recovery time would take the time you needed to try and earn your food away from you. 

There was just no point, and you were sure that you would probably never touch Duel Monsters again once you got out, as much as you could feel a second heartbeat coming from your deck. 

It was a question worth asking — just what were they aiming for, by making you duel like this day in, and day out? 

It was a question, like many before, you wouldn’t get an answer for anytime soon. 

\- 0.4.06 - 

“My turn! I draw!” You cry out to your virtual partner, echoing against walls of white, yet unheard to you as your VR headset muffled any sounds outside of the match. You turn your gaze to the card that you drew in your white room, that was seen in your hand within the headset, thanks to the headset being able to work with your Duel Disk. 

Link Infra-Flier was a nice addition to your hand of now three cards — and you placed the glider amongst Salvagent Driver and Cynet Universe, using your hand has reference for your strategy. 

It was hard to think, with a fog over your mind as your stomach continued to remind you that you were hungry, and that you started this duel by not having a choice in the matter. Cynet Universe could send an opponent’s monster to the Graveyard. Right? And Salvagent Driver was great in case you lost a Link Monster, whereas Link Infra-Flier was great Link Summoning fodder, but your opponent had been taking no chances with your Link Summons this turn — using cards and monster effects to take them out before you had a chance. 

Your life points were a candle in the wind, as Silent Swordsman LV7 was waiting patiently for your next move… but with Cynet Universe as a way to send him to the Graveyard, and Link Infra-Flyer as a great opportunity to Link Summon, since they only had one face down on the field and it didn’t stop you from calling Link Spider to aid you… With your opponent down to 1600 Life Points… you had a perfect chance. 

Were you actually going to win? 

“I use Link Infra-Flier’s effect to special summon it to Link Spider’s Link Arrow!” You boldly declared, despite fear gripping your heart in the event of being wrong about your tactics… you were so close to a legitimate victory. Please…. _Please…_ The monster appeared with a shining, gliding animation to where you had called it, and once it was on the field, you didn’t hesitate; throwing your hand up in the air. 

“Appear! The circuit that leads to the future!!” 

With your call, a glowing blue circuit board appeared with a spin above your hand, growing and growing in size until it became a beacon of light surrounding your tiny body in the VR space. Whereas, outside of the headset, nothing had changed at all. Not that you cared right now. You kept a fist balled up at your side. This time you were _going_ to win. _This time…_

“Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are 2 non-token monsters! I set Link Infra-Flier and the Link-1 Link Spider!” 

As you have seen several times before ever since you were placed in this room, your monsters rose up into the circuit that shined above you in controlled tornadoes that never strayed from their path, locking into the arrows leading out of the circuitboard with digitized confirmation sounds that reassured you in your approaching victory. 

Your opponent hadn’t stopped you from Link Summoning. 

“Appear — Link-2! Binary Sorceress!” 

Out from the circuitboard came a blue wireframe, being covered in pixels of white, blue, red, green, and all the technicolors in-between as it rendered your monster into existence. Once fully registered, she gracefully floated down into the Extra Monster Zone, which once housed Link Spider. 

“I activate Cynet Universe from my hand! All Link Monsters gain 300 ATK!” You watched as your fear of having this victory taken away from you still rode through your veins as Binary Sorceress shined with a red aura, brighter red lines sliding up her digitized form as her ATK was raised to 2200. 

It wasn’t enough against Silent Swordsman, but… it would be. 

“And with Cynet Universe’s effect, I send your Silent Swordsman LV7 to the Graveyard!” 

— A rough, unfiltered beep came through your Duel Disk, and your heart is squeezed. You shift your Duel Disk’s blue sidepiece up to where you can read it, only to see “ERROR” in white letters across it moments before it fades. No…. No, this was perfect! What did you do wrong??

“Unable to activate effect.” You opponent explains robotically, “Cynet Universe requires destruction to send all monsters in the _Extra Monster Zone_ to the Graveyard. Cynet Universe has not been destroyed, and Silent Swordsman LV7 is not in the Extra Monster Zone.” 

A gasp leaves you — that can’t be! You were certain you got the effect right…! With the help of your Duel Disk, you pull up the effect box as it’s listed on the Cynet Universe card you physically had outside of the duel arena. It stares at you clear as day. 

_All Link Monsters you control gain 300 ATK. Once per turn: You can target 1 monster in the GY; shuffle it into the deck. If this card on the field is destroyed by a card effect: Send all monsters in the Extra Monster Zones to the GY._

You… You read it wrong. In your hunger-fueled haze.. you misunderstood your card’s effect and made a massive misplay. Binary Sorceress was out on the field, alone, with only barely enough ATK to let you survive the next attack. She would only get destroyed against his higher ATK, and all your opponent would have to do beyond that is summon another monster, and you were as good as dead. 

You couldn’t believe this… you had let yourself believe you were going to win… when you didn’t even play your cards properly. 

You damn well earned the juice box you were going to get after a failure this big. At least you knew what you did wrong this time… 

Your fate was certain if you didn’t make another move, and with Salvagent Driver, the only other card in your hand, having the same ATK as your powered-up Binary Sorceress, you didn’t stand a chance no matter _what_ you did. 

You only had one option. 

“… I end my turn.” You say, tired and defeated, throat closing as if you couldn’t breathe — sweat forming against your brow as your heart pounded against your ears. You were going to lose, you were going to be shocked, and you were going to continue to starve. 

No. No, no, no no no nonono—

“It’s my turn. I draw.” Says the white silhouette of the AI opponent, adding another card to have two cards in their hand. 

They didn’t play either of them. 

“I activate my face down card — Silent Sword Slash.” 

As the card rose up to expose it’s rather green face, beyond the very same monster on the field that was _waiting_ to send you into a fit of pain and short breaths — your panic in anticipation of what you knew was coming next only grew worse. You couldn’t breathe anymore — you couldn’t breathe anymore —

You hyperventilated as your opponent gave you the effect. 

“Target 1 “Silent Swordsman” monster you control; that monster you control gains 1500 ATK and DEF. and if it does, it is unaffected by your opponent’s card effects.” 

You listen to the rest of the effect, as you keep suddenly and deeply breathing in and out, as your mind panicked and was telling you there was no air going in, despite the wheezing sounds leaving you, and as you opened and closed your mouth for more. 

You didn’t want this you didn’t want this you didn’t want this — 

“This card’s activation and effect cannot be negated.

“Battle!” Your opponent finally cries, and you feel like your heart implodes as your chest hurts, and you freeze in place in fear. NO. “Silent Swordsman LV7 rises to 4300, and attacks Binary Sorceress!” 

You watch with wide eyes as a slash cuts your monster down, your life points drop shortly after — and your opponent and duel arena fade away as you get the message you were fearing from the moment you placed the headset over your eyes once again — 

“YOU LOSE!!!” 

Painful, painful, _painful_ burning sensations wrack you from the inside out as all you’re left to do is scream your lungs out as your voice breaks, and you tumble as per usual, silencing your cries as you’re left to grunt against the sensation of rolling across the floor.

You try to lift yourself up with a few grunts — your arms wobble as you try your best to allow them to hold your weight against the fading shocks that still pulsed through them… but it wasn’t enough. The pain was too much, and you let yourself fall back to the floor in defeat. You stay there, unmoving as your eyes stay black — half-lidded and covered by the VR headset that somehow managed to stay on your face against the fall you just took. 

Why? Why did you have to go through this…? What did you do to deserve this? Why were you alone? Where was your family? Did… did they even notice you were gone? You couldn’t explain it… but the images of them were getting fuzzy. Just how long have you been here? You gave up counting somewhere along three months, but every “day” felt longer than the last. Were you even still in Japan…?

Was _anyone_ looking for you? Did… _anyone _care…?__

__Meals weren’t enough to fill you. As more sleeps and more duels passed, your body burned with scars beneath your clothes that have been rather fortunate to not catch fire. You couldn’t survive beyond hanging on by the skin of your teeth. And as you lie on the floor, breathing finally settling as your body was now only wracked with the ghost of the pain you felt before, you expect to stay there in silence. You expect there to be nothing different as you recover just as the drone comes down as it always did, not even bothering to get up for a while as you stayed in that room in silence._ _

__And all you hear is silence, and your own breathing…._ _

__… Until…_ _

___“Hey… You there. Get up.” ____ _

____A tiny, hardly audible, questioning and shocked gasp leaves you as you lift your head up. What…? Who… who was that? You… you hadn’t heard anyone but the voices of the VR headset and VR Duel arena for some time now… Was…._ _ _ _

____Was this real…?_ _ _ _

____“Wh-… Who’s there…?” You manage to shakily release, heart racing over the idea of getting an answer._ _ _ _

_____”Three. Think of three things..”_ _ _ _ _

____You did’t care what they were saying. You were entranced by the voice that was light, airy, and… kind. Someone… someone was there._ _ _ _

____Relief washed over you, the remainders of your shocks lost to how your heart beat rapidly at the excitement of not being alone. You stayed on the floor, but lifted the headset off of your eyes as you looked towards the light that illuminated the entire room you had been living in for as long as you were aware of. Which was something you couldn’t gauge anymore._ _ _ _

____You release a breath in awe; in confusion. You couldn’t see whoever it was… but you kept listening for them; in case they had anything else to say._ _ _ _

____And they did._ _ _ _

_____“Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy._ _ _ _ _

_____“By thinking, you can still live. ”_ _ _ _ _

____“I—… I can leave…?” You ask the voice, your eyes still trained on the light above you. You await an answer…_ _ _ _

____… But get none back._ _ _ _

____“Wh-… Where are you? A-are you trapped like me…?!”_ _ _ _

____Still nothing. The rush that once exhilarated you, gave you hope and a reason to finally speak beyond a duel in the VR arena, turned to uncertainty. To a wave of crippled, crunched up emotions as your heart ached._ _ _ _

_____Don’t… don’t leave so soon, whoever you are… Please…_ _ _ _ _

____“Hey… Are you still here….?” You ask again, to the white void. You wait. You wait as you did the last two times…_ _ _ _

____… And still get nothing back._ _ _ _

____They were gone. They left you alone._ _ _ _

____You don’t have it in you anymore to cry like you used to. Instead, your body and heart grow cold as you realize that you’re alone, again, and you’re left with nothing to do but to claim your pity prize for failing so miserably with your duel from before._ _ _ _

____You claim the juice box from the drone, and sip it through the straw — every last drop as they all fall into the pit that was your stomach, causing a rush of pain to fill you up rather than make you feel whole and full._ _ _ _

____You keep your eyes trained on the wall with the numbers in front of you — as your juice box hisses and gurgles as you empty it, but keep drinking anyway, desperate for every inch of what was inside._ _ _ _

____One time, when you awoke, you found the numbers had dramatically shifted to “68821000”, and had stayed that way for a while._ _ _ _

____You feel like the numbers on the end suggest that the number had gotten smaller, rather than remaining as such a high amount, but a voice in the back of your head tells you that you’re probably wrong, and if your aim was to lower it, you were nowhere near close._ _ _ _


End file.
